Scripting a TeX document - (or other way to number pdf pages)

[p.echols at comcast.net]

----- "Dave Howorth" <dhoworth at mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk> wrote:

> p.echols at comcast.net wrote:
> > ----- "Loïc Grenié" <loic.grenie at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>     Sorry, but I think LaTeX is really not adapted for the work. I
> >> would not know
> >>   where to start.
> >
> > Ok, Thanks anyway.
> 
> This thread has rumbled on and on and seems obsessed with the LaTeX
> possibility 

True, but that is where it started.  My OP started with 'latex suggested / how would I do that'.
But you make a good point.


> but has entirely ignored the "other way to number pdf
> pages"
> part of the subject. What other solutions have you tried?
> 
> I just googled - pages numbers pdf file - and the first hit was "Free
> software utility that adds page number in PDF files"
> http://www.a-pdf.com/number/
> 
> Perhaps that runs under wine. Have you tried it? There are a bunch of
> other hits that look like they might be relevant. What have you tried?
> 

Well, not that exact search (until now) but I have been looking for quite a long time.  Thanks very much for the suggestion, but I am looking for a linux only solution.  Please see my comment on windows programs below.  

The basic idea is to be able to "stamp" a pdf (putting something in front of the existing document) or "watermark" (putting the same something behind).  The idea is to leave the existing document intact, but the "something" put in front is "draft" or "copy or other.  The only linux program I had found so far that would do it is pdftk. It will either stamp or watermark one pdf (pdf A) over every page of another (pdf B).  The problem is that it only uses the first page of pdf A.  If you want to stamp page numbers, you have a problem.  

I have been puttering around with the idea of scripting the process for a while.  My initial idea had been to use imagemagick to create pdf A, one page at at time, extract the individual pages, etc.  It's a real brute force approach.  

If there are other linux solutions to the problem, I am certainly interested.  But at the moment, the two best candidates use some version of LaTeX.

For doing this task on windows, I use pdf995 from http://software995.com It does everything pdftk does, plus all the stamping numbering etc I could ever want w/ a gui interface. It is not freeware, but it is cheapware and includes a windoz "printer driver" for making a PDF out of anything you can print.  

I realize I am "gushing" over this software, but there are two reasons.  First, to point out that I have a windows solution that I like already.  Second, since this list ends up getting searched for all sorts of things and pdf995 is one of two windows softwares that I would recommend.  What the heck, they deserve some credit.

--PE